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2019 US Open (Dane- what I WANT to happen)
DISCLAIMER: This is not intended to be an official prediction of the 2019 U.S. Open Golf tournament. This is an ideal scenario created by Dane of what he would want to happen. Please keep this in mind when reading this article. The 2019 US Open Golf Championship was the 119th US Open, held from June 13th to 16th at Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, California. It was the 6th time the course hosted a US Open, with the last occurrence of such being in 2010, when Greame McDowell won. Phil Mickelson of the United States won his first ever US Open and 6th ever major, completing the major grand slam of golf after finishing as a runner up at the US Open on six previous occasions. He also becomes the oldest golfer to ever win a major, turning 49 on the final round of the tournament, surpassing Julius Boros's 1968 PGA win at 48 years, 4 months. In an exciting tournament, Phil was one of the tournament's biggest storylines. Starting slow in the first two rounds of the tournament and barely surviving the cut line for the weekend, he made a charge near the top 10 going into the final round. Meanwhile, on the other end was 2016 US Open Champion Dustin Johnson. The leader by three with 9 holes to play on Sunday, he found himself the victim of a Phil Mickelson charge late, which involved an eagle on the final hole, putting him out of the lead. He would go on to finish in a tie for 3rd place, two strokes back of Mickelson. In a surprising turn of events, Tiger Woods was also found to make a charge late on Sunday, ultimately finishing runner up to Mickelson by just one stroke. It would be the first time ever that Phil and Tiger finished right next to each other in a major, in 1st and 2nd place respectively. Summary First Round Scoring was found to be very conductive on the first day of the tournament. With temperatures in the upper 50's to low 60's and a noticeable lack of wind in the morning hours, players in the morning found themselves doing exceptionally well. Leading this pack by a wide margin of three strokes were two standout players- France's Clement Sordet and the USA's Dustin Johnson, each shooting a six under par 65. They found themselves three strokes clear of a tie for third consisting of Xander Schauffele, Tommy Fleetwood, Rickie Fowler, and Justin Thomas. As for eventual champion Phil Mickelson, he shot an opening round two over 73. Second Round With tee times flipped, similar conditions caused a drop for some players who played in the morning the previous day. Ultimately, after two rounds, there was a three way tie for the lead at -8, featuring Dustin Johnson, a surging Brooks Koepka, and Englishman Tommy Fleetwood. Also with a notable surge was Tiger Woods, who shot a five under 66 to enter the top 10. As for eventual champion Phil Mickelson, he shot a three under 68 to make the cut and reach the weekend. Third Round The third round featured similar conditions to the first two rounds, but with slightly higher winds making scoring slightly more difficult. The round saw minimal changes, atypical for a Saturday at a major. The end of the day saw Dustin Johnson in solo first with a one stroke lead at -11 over Xander Schauffele and Adam Scott. Tiger Woods shot a grueling 68 to reach -7 and stay in a tie for 9th place, while eventual champion Phil Mickelson remained in a tie for 13th at -6, five back of the leaders. Final Round Phil Mickelson, on his 49th birthday and on Father's day, prevails in a US Open for the ages. Dustin Johnson starts the day with a one stroke lead, that at one point grew to three strokes. However, in came Phil Mickelson, catching fire on the back nine. An eagle putt on the 18th generates large roars as Phil checks in with a final score of -14. Meanwhile, Dustin Johnson struggles on the back nine, after being at -15 at one point, he racks up several bogeys to fall to -12 and a tie for 3rd place with Brooks Koepka. Tiger Woods looked to be largely out of the picture heading into the final round at -7, but also caught fire late to reach -13, which eventually left him as the solo runner up to Phil Mickelson. Amongst other surges, Rory McIlroy registers yet another top 10 in a major with a final round of six under 65, Francesco Molinari tallies a 66 to enter the top 10, and a surge from Thai golfer Kiradech Aphibarnrat leads him to his first ever top 10 in a major. Haotong Li also hit a surge for his second ever top 10 in a major. Final Round Timeline A timeline of how the final round went, from the tee off of the final group to the end of the tournament. 3PM 3:30PM 4PM 4:30PM 5PM 5:30PM 6PM Aftermath Phil Mickelson's win made him the oldest person to win a major, at 49 years 0 days, surpassing the record set by Julius Boros's 1968 PGA Championship at 48 years, 4 months, 18 days. He also became the oldest person to win the US Open, surpassing Hale Irwin's 1990 win at 45 years, 15 days. The win also moved Phil Mickelson from #24 to #12 in the world. In his post round interview, Mickelson stated: "There's no better 49th birthday present I could have asked for" Tiger Woods's second place finish also generated buzz, albeit still leaving him at world #4, it continued to show that Tiger can still go out and play despite now being 43. The 2019 US Open marked the first time in major championship history that both the winner and runner-up were over the age of 40.